Loca Records
Loca Records
As a small label, copyleft licensing has allowed a fan-base to develop that is very enthusiastic about the ability to use the music in a number of different ways and also to grow the artists on the label. The latest release LOCA0IX (Ward) has been given a great review in the magazine The Wire which has garnered fresh interest in the label and the innovative approach to releasing music.
Loca Records opened in 1999. Primarily our product is Physical CDs and Vinyl (accompanied by Digital Downloads for CD releases). The sale of physical media is our main source of income.
Loca has been releasing records under copyleft licenses, (GPL, Open Audio License, CC) since 1999 and have used a variety of different licenses and approaches. They take an innovative approach to Intellectual Property and releasing records, concentrating on finding and developing new artists. Loca releases 1000 copy runs in physical formats such as vinyl and CD, this gives the release an added aesthetic aura. These releases are then licensed under the creative commons attribution-sharealike license which permits others to freely use the work providing that it is released under the same license. The share-alike component enables free use by their customers and fans, but does not preclude further commercial licensing, for instance for film or television use (who may wish to avoid the share-alike clause). The advantages of this business model are a more positive relationship with customers and the ability to expand a band’s audience through online peer2peer networks and websites (without the usual worries about copyright infringement and liability).
The effectivness of this model is excellent. As a small label, copyleft licensing has allowed a fan-base to develop that is very enthusiastic about the ability to use the music in a number of different ways (e.g. non-commercial skating/watersports videos) and also to grow the artists on the label. The latest release LOCA0IX (Ward) has been given a great review in the magazine The Wire which has garnered fresh interest in the label and the innovative approach to releasing music.
The pitfall that we have located is not so much related to the model, small labels have an extremely difficult time operting in an oligopolistic environment like the music business. So far they have not experienced any real negative effects from this licensing (except disbelief by commentators) and also they wonder whether the negative press circulating by collecting agencies will make artists less amenable to releasing in this way.
There are a number of labels using similar approaches although with slightly different twists. It’s definitely worth considering which would be best suited to your needs.
www.locarecords.com
Contact: info@locarecords.com
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